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Google Play voucher redeemed ahead of official release

Since we last reported about the impending arrival of Google Play gift cards, things have been moving along rather quickly. A Target employee spotted the vouchers at his branch and was able to make an internal purchase, which he then sent to the folks at Android Police. With their skills, the $25 gift card was successfully redeemed on Google Play ahead of the official launch. Some trickery was naturally involved in the redeeming process, given that it isn’t supposed to go live yet.

According to the report, there’s no NFC chip embedded on the voucher. This means you can’t just tap on the card on your Android device and hope that it will automatically reload your balance. But really, there’s nothing wrong with the good old-fashioned way of entering the string of code manually.

And though it isn’t 100% confirmed, it is likely you won’t be able to make any purchase of physical goods on Google Play using the voucher. It may only work on digital items, like apps and other multimedia content.

Target isn’t the only retail store that have stocks of the gift cards. As reported by Phandroid, RadioShack will be offering the vouchers as well. The inventory list shows there will be three flavors to choose from: $10, $25, and $50. Unfortunately, there’s also no mention of when the vouchers will go on sale.

The introduction of Google Play gift cards is no doubt a win-win situation for both customers and content providers. As Android enthusiasts, we eagerly await statistics of the voucher’s positive impact on the ecosystem.

Sade has an addiction, and it is incurable. Being as furiously addicted as he is mobile technology, it's only natural that he would want to work with the best Android site in the world. He scours the internet at all hours of the day and night to bring you the freshest, most interesting news on the rapidly expanding world of Android!